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Chapter 87
“Ugh… my body feels stiff. How many days have I been riding in a carriage?”
Feels like about a week.
I stretched my entire body while looking around the mansion. I had arrived at my mansion using a carriage secretly obtained by Stanley and mercenaries hired covertly by Duke Herden.
Everything seemed well maintained; there wasn’t much that needed repair.
I had learned the exact location on the way—it’s in the North. Even more precisely, in a mansion within the Schultz territory.
How many moves ahead was Taiburn thinking? Was he planning to have me adopted into the Schultz family from the very beginning?
Anyway, besides Duke Herden and Stanley, no one else knows I’ve come here.
The mercenaries made sure all my luggage was unloaded before leaving. According to Stanley,
“They’ll never be able to track you. We recycled several false identities. Chasing you would be like chasing a ghost.”
I guess even dukes need fake identities…? Either way, it’s a relief I was able to leave safely.
I hummed a tune as I entered the mansion, scanning the surroundings before lifting my luggage. Things like this are easier to move all at once.
I put my luggage down in the living room and smiled broadly.
“Ahaha. So this is my home.”
I raised both arms.
“I did it, Lani!”
If Dania had been here, she’d have congratulated me. I had left secretly, so I couldn’t even say goodbye to her.
Would she be very sad?
Or very upset?
No, maybe she’d feel relieved.
I decided to check her status screen.
[Name: Dania]
Role: Catheron’s maid, Lani’s friend.
Status: Corrupting due to loss and despair.
I swallowed hard. Could it be… that loss and despair is because of me? Corrupting… that seems extreme.
A chill ran down my spine, so I quickly closed the status screen.
I decided I should first organize the house and then check out the nearby market.
“Bad woman! Bad woman! Bad woman!”
Dania snorted as she harvested herbs. It was almost as if a black aura was emanating around her.
Of course, it was sad for everyone that Lani had left without a word. During the dark times when Lani wasn’t around, they might have starved to death.
They had grown attached to her over time, so why did she leave so abruptly?
They considered themselves family.
But Dania’s extreme sadness and anger meant no one could say a word.
Meanwhile, the herbs were harvested tirelessly, just like Dania’s rage.
The servants who sorted and packed the harvested herbs spoke as they moved the boxes.
“But where did she really go?”
“No one knows. Even the Duke didn’t say a word.”
“Seems Lady Ruella doesn’t know either. Hmm… I hope nothing bad happened.”
“…I heard that before Lani left, Master Karte came by. Do you know about that?”
“That rascal? Why?”
“No idea! He supposedly came just to see Lani, and then Lani went to see the Duke. Sounds related, doesn’t it?”
“She’s noticeable, but would that rascal really be interested in her?”
“Is that true?”
Suddenly, a chilling voice made the servants flinch. The box of herbs fell to the floor.
“D-Dania?”
“Master Karte really came to see Lani?”
Dania gritted her teeth. The servants nodded quickly.
Dania tightened her grip on the sickle in her hand. The servants stepped back.
It felt like what Dania wanted to harvest with that sickle wasn’t the herbs.
They hastily carried the boxes away.
“I need to go get more herbs quickly.”
“Haha, we need to finish today’s delivery quota.”
There was a small passage at the back only for moving herbs. The Marquis of Aros would send someone at the scheduled time.
The servants hurried through the passage. Dania’s eyes shone as she strode forward.
‘It’s because of that guy, isn’t it? That damn man.’
Dania instinctively knew what she had to do to bring Lani back. Her gaze sharpened further as she adjusted her sickle.
Karte also learned that Lani had disappeared, thanks to contacts connected to Kiera among the newly assigned staff at Catheron.
“Tch. That clever girl, where on earth did she disappear to?”
“I don’t know, Lady Kiera. But recently, the mansion’s atmosphere has been strange. Some say she’s been adopted into a noble family.”
Kiera’s eyes widened.
“Adopted? Why would a maid—?”
“I don’t know either. They all stick together and refuse to say anything. They even kept me away from the Forbidden Forest while moving freely among themselves.”
“A noble girl disappeared. Hmm… smells suspicious.”
Kiera chuckled.
“Maybe they offered her as a sacrifice or sold her. She’s eighteen now, perfect age to send to an older noble’s harem.”
“Oh! That could be it!”
“She pretends to be refined. I guess Catheron was the same.”
Karte, who had been sitting quietly, set down his teacup. His eyes were cold as he looked up.
“Find out where she went.”
“Master?”
The maid looked at Karte in surprise.
“Find out where Lani disappeared to. Which family adopted her.”
“I-I tried… already tried… no one knows!”
The maid’s eyes rolled in panic. Karte sighed.
Karte lifted himself with his small frame but still looked intimidating as he held a fork to lift the maid’s chin.
The maid trembled.
“Master!”
“Why? You were chatting away just fine. Now you can’t do it?”
“I-I asked my advisor…! They didn’t know either…! After she disappeared, they pretended to search for her, though!”
“Who?”
“My fellow servants, Lady Ruella… even the Duke! They searched with knights and sent people!”
Karte narrowed his eyes. He dropped the fork and spoke to Kiera.
“Mother, follow them. Tell me as soon as you find Lani’s location.”
“…O-okay. I will.”
Kiera answered in a trembling voice. Karte threw down the fork. Clang!
The sound made the maid fall back, and Solnya burst into tears. Karte strode out roughly.
‘She has nowhere to go.’
She must have been lying well. Lani really doesn’t know her own place, that’s for sure.
“I should have taught her earlier. Who she belongs to, and her position.”
Once caught, she would never be let go.
Duke Herden’s dispatched knights and people weren’t searching for Lani. They were erasing all traces of her while watching if anyone was pursuing her.
“Someone is definitely following. Seems to be from the Marquess’ household.”
Just as Duke Herden warned, someone had attached themselves.
“From now on, we’ll shake them off.”
“Yes!”
They were Catheron’s knights.
They would never fail. If they could blind these eyes and pull them far away, Lani’s traces would vanish even more.
Thus, Lani gradually disappeared—from the capital, and from everyone’s eyes.
